


Your Bathtub Is Just As Big As Mine

by CacophonyOfWords



Category: Free!
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-29
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-03-09 14:41:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3253517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CacophonyOfWords/pseuds/CacophonyOfWords
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“There’s nothing to be offended about,” Haru said with his calm voice. “Your bathtub is just as big as mine.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Here’s the thing.

 

Rin Matsuoka valued friendship. He really cared about his friends, he might have loved some of them more than others, but deep down each one of them had a place in his heart.

 

But he still longed for his friends from Iwatobi to get out of his flat as soon as possible.

 

Rin had spent the better portion of the past twenty-four hours on a plane from Australia, coming to Tokyo, to his new flat (picked by Gou, who had moved to the capital after graduating from high school) only to find the small living room cramped with pizza boxes on the coffee table and Haru, Makoto, Nagisa and Rei sitting around it. And yes, there was also a ‘welcome home Rin-Rin’ hanging from the ceiling, with five pink balloons attached to it.

 

Rin had decided to move back home in a spur of a moment. Well, he was planning on moving to Tokyo after graduating anyway but with Coach Brown retiring just a few months ago, Rin decided that there was no point in staying in Australia. He didn’t really want to look for a new coach and get used to a new training schedule and a new team only to leave on his own in less than a year. So, after some digging of information, paperwork and a few additional exams, he managed to get transferred to a university in Tokyo for his final year.

 

The fact Haru was attending the very same school was just a coincidence. Rin knew the two of them would most probably end up with different training times despite being on the same team, anyway but it was still nice to know someone there.

 

And again, Rin was still so tired that he really wanted everyone out of his place, including Haru.

 

“Oh, it’s getting late,” Makoto said suddenly and Rin sent a blessing to his friend under his breath. “We should go if we want to catch the last train,” he added, looking at Nagisa and Rei. Both of them were staying with Makoto for the night since neither Nagisa nor Rei were attending schools in the capital.

 

“I’ll go get your jackets,” Rin offered and stood up, hoping he didn’t sound too eager. He was just really looking forward to get an intimate encounter with his shower and more importantly, _his bed._

“Haru, you’re leaving too, right?” he prompted as he folded three jackets over his arm and looked around for the fourth one.

 

“Hm,” Haru nodded. “But I don’t need the train, I walked here.”

 

“Haru-chan lives close to you, Rin-chan!” Nagisa exclaimed with a beaming expression, the same one Rin had learned to fear years ago.

 

“Really?” Rin wondered before frowning. “But won’t you be cold walking home in just that shirt? Didn’t you bring a jacket?” he asked, feeling confused.

 

Haru just shooked his head. “I don’t need it.”  


A strange feeling crossed Rin’s mind and he scanned his eyes along his friends. Makoto seemed normal with his smiling expression, but his hand was gripping his jacket a little bit too hard; Haru had his usual blank expression, and honestly there was nothing strange about that, really; Rei was looking at Rin with lips pressed together and Nagisa… Nagisa was smiling at him with a grin that could be only described as _evil._

 

“Haru, where exactly do you live?”

 

“The apartment left of yours.”

 

“WHAT?”

 

“Well, Rin-san, we really have to go. Welcome back home!” Rei suddenly said and walked to the genkan, pulling a cackling Nagisa with him and mercilessly throwing at him his pair of shoes.

 

“Surprise, Rin-chan! You and Haru are neighbors!” Nagisa yelped as he toed in his shoes.

 

“Good night guys, Rin you can call me for everything. Welcome home… and good luck!” Makoto added in an afterthought that made Rin wondering what was his friend implying.

 

“Welcome home, Rin-chan!” Nagisa exclaimed as he was getting pulled out of the front door by Rei. “I’ve put some condoms and lube in your nightst-!” the rest of his phrase was thankfully tuned out by the shutting of the door.

 

Rin’s mouth was hanging open in shock as his eyes zoomed from the front door to Haru, still standing in the living room.

 

“You’re my neighbor?” Rin asked with a shrill voice. “How the hell did that even happen, didn’t you have another apartment?”

 

Haru shrugged. “Gou asked Makoto and me to accompany her to go look for some apartments for you. This building had more apartments up for rent, my lease was about to run out so I decided to move,” he explained with a shrug. “The pool is also closer.”

 

Rin sighed, he didn’t really mind having Haru living close, heck he would probably have been way too thrilled if his body were in a state of less tiredness, the news had just shocked him.

 

“Haru?” he asked in a sigh.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Did you move because of the bathroom?” Rin asked, remembering that Gou had wrote him an email describing the apartment and mentioning how the bathtubs in this complex was slightly bigger than those you usually found in these kind of apartments.

 

“Of course.”

 

Rin snorted a chuckle. “Honestly, I don’t know if I should feel thankful or offended.”

 

“There’s nothing to be offended about,” Haru said with his calm voice. “Your bathtub is just as big as mine.”


	2. Chapter 2

 

Considering how tired he felt the previous night, Rin woke up surprisingly early. He got up from the bed, walked into the living room and looked around his new apartment, still trying to absorb all the details. Gou had done a great job. She had put pictures of him with his family and friends around the place and even filled the fridge for him, taking one chore off his shoulders for his first day back. He really ought to call her and thank her properly, maybe by taking her out for dinner since she couldn’t make it to the welcoming surprise party.

 

Having nothing else to do at that early in the morning, Rin opted to go for a run. It would also be a great way to discover his neighborhood. He changed into his running gear and opened the glass door that lead from his living room to the tiny balcony to let some fresh air in. Gou said that the owner had had the flat being repainted just a few days before, and the smell of fresh paint was still lingering inside.

 

Rin stepped outside and looked around. The view was far from perfect but Rin wasn’t even interested in it. He stretched his arms high above his head when he remembered: Haru was living in the apartment left of Rin’s, they were neighbors. Silently, Rin sidestepped close to the corner of the balcony that he shared with Haru and slowly peeked his head around it. He wasn’t expecting much, seriously. Maybe just five pair of the same swimsuit drying outside.

 

Instead Rin ended up with his eyes on the level of a naked chest, just a few dozens of centimeters away from his face. Haru’s arms were raised up and busy hanging clothes. Well, at least Rin guessed right that Haru was hanging something to dry.

 

Rin looked up and got an eyeful of bright blue boxers with a Loosejaw-kun print all over them. He choked back a cough, mixed with embarrassed laughter.

 

“Rin?” Haru asked and at that moment Rin realized that he just got pretty much caught peeking on his neighbor. Who was hanging his underwear.

 

“Haru!” Rin spluttered and straightened his back, cheeks suddenly colored with red blotches. “Good morning!”

 

“’morning,” Haru replied back with a nod.

 

“I was going to go for a run,” Rin rushed to explain, hoping Haru would not end up asking what was he doing spying on him. “Care to join me?”

 

And this was how Rin added the first routine in his new life in Tokyo. Morning runs with Haru.

 

* * *

  

In all honesty, the routine of morning runs didn’t really last long. It took Rin a few days to realize there was a big difference between his life in Sydney and his life in Tokyo. Between classes, trainings with the club, and the time needed to study he quickly figured he’d have to cut off the morning runs. Because as much as stamina was important for a professional athlete, so was sleeping. In the end, Rin and Haru decided to move the running to the weekends, which actually gave them the possibility to have Makoto go with them as well.

 

It was a day like any other, when Rin and Haru were riding the train to school. Despite going to the same school, their schedules were not really the same. Different classes resulted in different training schedules for every member of the club, so more often than not, they would mostly have solo training with their coach, with just a few hours per week reserved for team practice.

 

But still, Rin and Haru managed to do the commute to school together almost every day, albeit they usually split up once arriving to school to go either to class, to the pool or to the gym for some weight training (and thanks to Makoto, Rin learned to double check Haru was up and ready to go on the days where the latter was on schedule).

 

That morning, Rin loudly sighed and let his head hit the pole he was leaning against.

 

“Hmm?” Haru asked from his position across Rin, an eyebrow raised questioningly. “Anything wrong?”

 

“Naah,” Rin shrugged. “Just thinking about today’s long ass schedule. I have classes until lunch, followed by weight training and then pool,” he explained, his head lolling forward and his gaze on the two duffel bags in front of him. It was a strange feeling to have the same bag as Haru but it made Rin’s heart do some happy flip thinking about how they were finally part of the same team. Actually, recently his heart has been doing a lot of flips when it came to Haru…

 

“I have a double pool session,” Haru said, interrupting Rin’s train of thoughts.

 

“I know,” Rin snorted and stretched out his leg, giving Haru’s shin a light kick. “Your eyes start shining every time you have pool time.”

 

“Jealous?”

 

“Of you? Not really. I have pool time afterwards. And I’ll be alone,” Rin replied, dragging out the last word and wiggling his eyebrows at Haru.

 

“I meant of the pool,” Haru retorted with a snort and Rin felt himself choke on the chewing gum in his mouth.

 

“Haaa? What do you mean…” he started spluttering, but Haru was not listening to him anymore.

 

“We’re here,” he said instead, bending down to pick one bag and stepping off the train as soon as the door slid open.

 

“Oi, Haru!” Rin called after him, grabbing the other bag and rearranging the backpack with the textbooks on his shoulder. “Stop ignoring me, you brat!”

 

* * *

 

 

Rin was having a slightly big problem trying to get home later that day.

 

The problem being that he wanted, he needed, to get home as soon as possible but getting home fast was anything but easy in his _condition._

He tried to break into a run but the friction was becoming a little bit too rough and made him slow down. Also, his pants were falling down, threatening to reveal way too much for his liking and Rin mentally cursed his love for low-waisted pants. So, he pushed his hands deep into his pockets in order to keep the pants up and avoiding flashing any innocent passerby.

 

Finally, he saw his complex in front of him and he climbed up the stairs, passing by his apartment quickly and going straight to Haru’s door, knocking forcefully once before trying the knob. It was, not surprisingly, unlocked.

 

“Nanase!” Rin yelled, stepping out of his shoes and furiously walking inside, his eyes searching for Haru’s figure. He found him sitting at the kitchen table, a magazine open in front of him.

 

“Yes?” Haru asked, looking up curiously and not even remotely surprised by Rin’s presence or his outburst.

 

“Did we switch bags on the train this morning?”

 

“Oh,” Haru’s eyes widened slightly and he looked to the floor, bending over to pick something. “Yeah,” he said, straightening back up and dropping what was most probably Rin’s duffel bag on the table in front of him.

 

“Phew,” Rin sighed in relief as he pulled on the zip to check the inside. “Thankfully I keep a second pair of swimsuit in my locker at the club so I could still train…” his eyes frowned as he continued rummaging through the bag, obviously looking for something.

 

“Haru…” he said slowly. “Where is my underwear?”

 

“I’m wearing it,” Haru replied with the audacity of looking not even remotely ashamed.

 

“What do you mean you’re wearing my underwear?” Rin spluttered incredulously, his voice reaching high notes.

 

Haru shrugged. “I left with my swimsuit on this morning, I had nothing else to wear. What was I supposed to do? Go home without wearing any?”

 

“Well, I did!” Rin blurted in reply, realizing too late what had he actually said and blushing red in the face.

 

“Why didn’t you wear the one you were wearing before?” Haru asked with his usual neutral tone.

 

“Because I had weight training in them.”

 

“So?”

 

“Nanase, some people sweat their ass off during training,” Rin said exasperated, sitting at the table across Haru and leaning his head on the cold wooden surface.

 

“You mean literally?” Haru asked and Rin could swear he heard a hint of amusement in his voice.

 

Rin just grunted and closed his eyes, wondering if he pressed hard enough, the table would swallow him.

 

“You should have worn mine,” Haru said then.

 

“Your underwear is too small for me,” Rin replied automatically. A few seconds of silence passed before his eyes shot open and his own words dawned on him.

 

“At the waist,” he rushed saying, lifting his head up and looking at Haru. “They are too tight at the waist.”

 

“You tried them?”

 

“I was kind of desperate.”

 

More seconds of silence passed before Haru spoke up.

 

“I’ll wash them and give them back.”

 

“No need,” Rin said, finally sitting back up and stretching his arms above his head. “Keep them.”

 

“Thanks,” Haru nodded and looked down at his lap and Rin could see Haru’s hand sneaking behind his pants and pulling at the elastic band of his ‘new’ underwear. “They are kind of comfy, a little baggy in the front…”

 

Rin snorted. “I’ll keep it in mind and get you a pair for your birthday,” he said before pushing back the chair and getting up. “I’m going now, see you tomorrow, Haru,” he added, grabbing the strap of his duffel bag and turning back to the door.

 

"Uhhhh"

 

"What now?"

 

"Umm"

 

"Haru?"

 

"I just didn't know you really shaved everywhere."

 

Rin looked down and cursed. His pants have slipped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Well, many thanks to everyone who left a kudo or a comment, I was actually surprised by the feedback considering the idea for this fic came just very randomly. Also, many thanks to extraordinary for being the beta and to flossa for suggesting the bag swap idea! (btw these two are slowly slipping out of my control, I'm afraid for what will come up next o_O Hopefully what I have planned, lol)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long! And thanks to extraordinary for being the beta and deal with all the missing commas. I swear next chapter shouldn't take that long... hopefully.

“… and then,” Rin said chuckling as he turned off the tap and moved the pot full of water onto the stove. “He walked in, stripped off to his swimsuit and went straight into the pool without even noticing the locker room was still full of girls.”

 

“No way,” Gou gasped from her seat at the table. “And none of the girls complained?”

 

Rin shrugged as he turned on the burner. “I guess they were too surprised a guy completely ignored them?”

 

Gou laughed. “You seem to be spending lots of time with Haruka-san, Onii-chan,” she pointed out then.

 

Rin turned from his spot to look at her in confusion. “We are neighbors and teammates, it comes with the territory,” he said before turning back to the pots on the stove.

 

“I just meant that you mention him a lot…” Gou said slowly, a knowing smile creeping on her lips.

 

“Oi!” Rin blubbered at his sister. “What are trying to imply?”

 

Gou looked at him with an expression of pure innocence, and Rin was suddenly reminded of Nagisa’s doing. “Is there anything to imply?” she asked him back.

 

“Ugh, shut up,” Rin retorted.

 

Gou snickered one more time before standing up and walking to her brother.

 

“What are you making exactly?” she asked peeking over his shoulder.

 

“Spaghetti with meatballs,” Rin answered, stirring the pot with the sauce.

 

“You made a lot,” Gou observed. “Oh, I have an idea,” she suddenly announced. “I’m going to ask Haruka-senpai if he wants to join us. There’s enough for all!”

 

“Wait, what?” Rin objected, but before he could even attempt to stop Gou, she had fled out of his flat.

 

Not even two minutes later, Gou was back with Haru.

 

“And what is that?” Rin asked as he pointed a wooden spoon at the plate in Haru’s hand.

 

“Mackerel,” Haru answered as he put the plate with two fish fillets on the counter.

 

“You know that there is no need to bring your own food when you’re invited to dinner, right?”

 

“I already thawed it, didn’t want to freeze it again,” Haru explained as he just walked to the counter and took out a grilling pan.

 

Rin rolled his eyes and looked at his sister. “See what am I dealing with here?” he said exasperated, but Gou just laughed at him.

 

Meanwhile Haru had walked near the stove and put the grilling pan on the last free burner.

 

“Tsk, just leave this to me,” Rin snorted and pushed Haru away.

 

“But…” Haru objected, but Rin didn’t let him finish.

 

“If you want to make something, there’s lettuce in the fridge, make a salad,” he said turning Haru to the fridge in the corner.

 

“Oh,” Gou suddenly sounded surprised. “Onii-chan, don’t tell me you have convinced Haruka-senpai to eat vegetables?”

 

Rin looked over at her. “You’d be surprised to see how easy is to make him eat something once he knows the percentage of water it contains.”

 

* * *

 

 

“This dinner is really good, onii-chan,” Gou said once she had tried the meal.

 

“Thank you, Gou,” Rin said with a proud smirk. “I got the recipe from the cafeteria at my swimming club in Sydney. The secret is in the perfect ratio between beef and… oi, Haru, what do you think you’re doing?” he asked, looking at his teammate.

 

Haru looked at him with fake innocence in his eyes, as if his hand wasn’t holding a fork with a meatball stabbed on the prongs. One that he was sneakily trying to move onto Rin’s own plate.

 

“I don’t want meatballs,” he said in even voice.

 

“You don’t like them, Haruka-senpai?” Gou asked.

 

Haru turned toward the girl to answer her. “I don’t mind them, I just don’t want them.”

 

“You better eat them, Haru, the coach told you to keep protein in your menu,” Rin said, clashing his own fork with Haru’s and pushing it back towards Haru’s plate.

 

“I’m getting proteins from mackerel,” Haru reasoned.

 

“That portion of fish is not enough protein for a balanced meal!” Rin objected, pointing at the mackerel on Haru’s plate.

 

“Then give me yours.”

 

“And why would I do that?”

 

“Because coach told you to keep an eye on my eating habits.”

 

“Is that true, onii-chan?” Gou wondered.

 

“Tsk, yeah, after he found out we are neighbors. DON’T YOU DARE TOUCH MY MACKEREL WITH THAT FORK, NANASE!” Rin shouted when he noticed Haru’s fork was now trying to steal food from his plate.

 

“Then half of it?” Haru asked.

 

“Only if you have half of the meatballs,” Rin offered.

 

Haru nodded. “Okay.”

 

“Eat one,” Rin orderd. “Now.”

 

“Fine.” Haru muttered as he stabbed a piece of meat and stuffed it in his mouth, slowly chewing on it.

 

“Hahaha, how do you like my meatballs, Haru?” Rin asked almost too proud of his (ridiculous) victory.

 

“Delicious,” was Haru’s deadpan reply.

 

Rin’s cheeks suddenly flushed red at the implication of the last words exchange between them.

 

Seconds of awkward silence passed between the three of them, before Gou’s whisper could be heard.

 

“I feel I should be blushing.”

 

* * *

 

 

A few weeks later, Rin had just stepped out of the shower when there was a knock on his door.

 

“Oi, Haru,” he greeted once he pulled the door open. “You missed the evening training, where were you?” he asked as he motioned to the other boy to came in.

 

“I… forgot about it,” Haru replied as he stepped inside.

 

“Huh?” Rin asked, confused, as he looked at him. “Haru, are you alright?” he asked concerned after noticing Haru’s flustered appearance.

 

Haru nodded without saying a word. “Do you have any mackerel?” he asked instead. “I forgot to buy it.”

 

Rin frowned and took a step closer, noticing the flush on Haru’s cheeks and his glassy eyes.

 

“You sure you’re okay?” he asked, lifting one hand and pressing it against Haru’s forehead. He cursed.

 

“Haru, you’re hot!” he exclaimed.

 

“…thanks?” Haru said blinking slowly.

 

“I mean you have a fever, you idiot!” Rin said, exasperated, and pulled Haru to the living room; dropping him on the small sofa and ordering him to wait there. As Rin walked back to the kitchen, he picked up his cellphone from the table and scrolled through his contacts as he grabbed a pot from the cupboard and filled it with water.

 

“Hello?” a voice replied after a few rings.

 

“Makoto? It’s Rin,” Rin said back in the receiver.

 

“Ah, Rin,” Makoto’s happy voiced echoed. “How are you?”

 

“I’m fine,” Rin replied. “But Haru is sick, I don’t think he will be able to go for a run tomorrow,” he explained the reason behind his call.

 

“Haru is sick?” Makoto asked worried.

 

“Nothing big,” Rin calmed his friend. “He is just running a fever, I’ll feed him some soup, aspirin and send him back home,” he added, presenting his plan.

 

“You can’t,” Makoto rushed saying. “Haru can’t be left alone when sick, especially with fever.”

 

“Eh? He is an adult, he can deal perfectly…”

 

“You don’t understand,” Makoto interrupted him, talking very quickly. “When Haru is sick he can’t be left alone because he just starts wandering around and blabbering nonsense. Once when we were younger he also had a fever and he ended up sneaking away from home and ringing at our doorbell at midnight, asking for croquettes and scaring the twins with how pale he looked!”

 

“Wha…?” Rin asked confused. “Seriously?” he peeked in the living room and saw Haru being deeply interested in his fingers. “I guess I will let him sleep here?” he eventually said in the receiver.

 

“Ah, do you want me to come over? I can bring something…” Makoto offered.

 

“Naah, I think I am good. Thanks though,” Rin thanked him.

 

“Well, call me if anything happens, okay?”

 

“Sure, I’ll call you tomorrow, bye.”

 

* * *

  
 

“Haru!” Rin called a few minutes later. “There’s soup on the table, come eat it,” he said before walking to the bathroom and rummaging through the medicine cabinet. Grabbing a box of aspirins, he came back to find Haru seated at the table and staring at the bowl in front of him.

 

“Eat up,” Rin urged.

 

“Is there mackerel in it?” Haru asked.

 

Rin sighed. “No, I told you I didn’t have any.”

 

Haru pouted and pushed the bowl away. “I don’t want it.”

 

Rin’s eyebrow twitched and he bit his tongue, stopping himself from snapping. Haru was a blabbering mess of nonsense, like Makoto had warned him.

 

“Fine,” he eventually said through his gritted teeth before getting an idea. “I lied, I have some mackerel but not enough for both of us,” he said as he walked back to the stove and grabbed a second bowl and filled it with the remaining soup he had left aside for himself. “I was planning on eating it myself after you’d go to bed,” he said with a fake regret and put the second bowl in front of Haru, who was looking at the dish with glistering eyes.

 

“That was very mean of you,” Haru said then, sending Rin a pout before grabbing the spoon and giving the soup a try. “It is good, you can really taste the mackerel.”

 

“…thanks,” Rin said slowly, trying to not burst out laughing because the soup they were eating was just a regular instant noodle one.

 

* * *

  
 

“Okay, lets get you to bed, Haru,” Rin said when Haru eventually came out of the bathroom, droplets of water still clinging to his fringe. He maneuvered Haru to his bedroom and sat him down on the mattress before turning to his closet.

 

“I’ll get you something to sleep in,” he said as he rummaged for a shirt. When he turned around he sighed, noticing Haru hadn’t moved from his spot. “Come on, up!” he said as he pulled Haru up and grabbed the waist of Haru’s hoodie, lifting it over his head and leaving Haru shirtless. He pushed the collar of the T-shirt over Haru’s head and helped Haru with getting his arms through the sleeves.

 

“Your hands feel nice,” Haru said suddenly.

 

“Huh?”

 

“They’re cold.”

 

“Oh,” Rin replied as he looked at his fingers before slowly lifting his hand to Haru’s forehead, making the other sigh instantly. “I guess I will get you a wet cloth,” he said as he moved his other hand to Haru’s neck, feeling the skin there as hot as the skin on the forehead.

 

Haru just hummed in approval and let his head tilt forward.

 

* * *

  
 

It was still dark when Rin was woken up by a kick and a heavy weight pressing on his chest.

 

“Wha-” he mumbled as the figure of Haru gained focus in his eyes.

 

“Why am I in your bed?” Haru simply asked, his forearm still pressing down on Rin’s chest that he was leaning on.

 

“You had a fever,” Rin grumbled as he pushed Haru off him.

 

“So you kidnapped me?”

 

Rin rolled his eyes in the dark and readjusted the throw pillow he’d grabbed from his living room to sleep on. “No, Makoto said you become a rambling mess when feverish, which is true by the way, so I had you sleep here,” he explained behind a yawn.

 

“That’s a lie.”

 

Rin snorted. “You skipped yesterday’s training and forgot to buy mackerel, I’d say you become a pretty mess when sick.”

 

Haru remained silent and just shifted under the covers.

 

“Oi,” Rin protested when the sheets where pulled away from him.

 

“I need the bathroom,” was the grumbly reply from Haru as he stumbled crawling over Rin, kicking him just above the groin on his way out.

 

“Fuuuuck, Haruuu,” Rin whimpered as he folded in two and turned on his side, clenching his teeth to not wake all the neighbors. Damned Nanase and his elephant delicacy at the crack of dawn. He rolled around and checked his alarm clock, sighing when he saw it was actually past six in the morning, usually he’d wake up around this time to get ready for his weekend runs with Haru and Makoto.

 

Expecting they would soon get up anyway, he propped himself up against the headboard just when Haru came back in the room, climbing again over Rin (thankfully without any accidental kick, this time) and slipping under the covers.

 

Apparently Rin was wrong, Haru had no plan of getting up.

 

“Your bathroom is cold,” Haru suddenly said, pressing his ice cold freezing toes straight against Rin’s shin.

 

“Holy crap, Haruuuu,” Rin howled and almost fell off the bed from the shock. “Put on some socks, you idiot!”

 

“I can’t sleep with socks on,” Haru calmly replied.

 

Rin snorted. “Why, you need your toes to be free?”

 

“Exactly,” Haru said and went back to press his toes against Rin’s warm skin.

 

“This kind of feels like that time in Australia, don’t you think?” Rin asked after a few moments of silence.

 

“It’s colder,” Haru muttered with the blanket pulled up to his face. “And the bed is smaller.”

 

Rin clicked with his tongue and instead just moved under the covers to make himself more comfortable.

 

“Hey, Haru?” Rin suddenly piped up.

 

“Hm?” Haru muttered.

 

“Do you ever regret it?”

 

“What?”

 

“Deciding to go pro.”

 

The room suddenly grew heavy with silence and for a second Rin regretted it. Maybe this was not the right moment to ask this, maybe Haru actually did have some concerns.

 

“… no.” Haru eventually said. “Do you?”

 

“No,” Rin shook his head. “But I am not the one who had a breakdown over my future in my third year,” he added.

 

“I like it,” Haru explained, his voice suddenly going softer. “It gets hard sometimes with all the trainings and rules but I get by.”

 

Rin grinned and looked at the ceiling, the walls painted with a blueish light from the approaching morning. “Do you ever imagine how will it be? Jumping in the pool wearing Japan’s colors…” he asked, already fantasizing about the close future, him on the national team and Haru with him.

 

“Wet?” Haru joked.

 

“Oi,” Rin protested. “Stop poking fun at my dr-umph,” he mumbled when something had slapped his mouth.

 

“Just shut up and lets sleep some more, hm?” Haru suggested and let his hand slip from Rin’s mouth down to his chest.

 

“Fine,” Rin muttered and bent his hand behind his head.

 

He half-expected Haru to move his hand from Rin’s chest but it never happened.

 

Somehow, Rin thought, it felt like something have changed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to extraordinary for being the beta!
> 
> Read the ending notes!

 

Haruka Nanase looked particularly cute when asleep. His fringe tilted to the side and exposing his forehead, his mouth half open and his expression all relaxed. He looked similar to when he’d float on his back in a pool, ignoring the world around him.

 

Haru also looked really cute after just having woken up, his hair now messy because he’d always run a hand through it as soon as he’d regain conscience, his eyes puffy and his expression a little bit confused.

 

And Rin Matsuoka had a photographic evidence of both moments, even if Haru didn’t need to know about it… yet. With a secret smile at his teammate, Rin closed his phone and dropped it in his bag before stepping off the bus.

 

They had been just dropped off at their school after coming from their first unofficial competition as members of the same team and, as their other teammates had already bid them goodbye and left the school ground, Rin was taking his time tying his shoelaces.

 

“You’re being slow,” Haru said behind a yawn.

 

“I know,” Rin said as he stood up, a grin spread on his face. “I wanted to make sure everybody had left,as because,” he paused his words as his hand fished in the front pocket of his messenger bag. “Want to go for a swim?” he asked mischievously, as he twisted a pair of keys on his finger.

 

Haru’s eyes widened. “How did you get those?” he asked obviously recognizing the keys as the ones their coach used to open the school pool.

 

Rin chuckled as he turned on his heels, starting to walk towards the school pool. “I’m supposed to have one-on-one training tomorrow, but coach said he will be late. He gave me the keys so I could start on my own.” He unlocked the heavy doors of the pool and pushed them open before looking back at Haru. “Fancy a race, Nanase?”

 

There was no surprise in Haru’s nod. The competition they had earlier that day was a small one between a few schools, and the coach had Rin and Haru focus on the relay race so the boys couldn’t compete against each other like they both wanted. Coming second in the relay event was still a good achievement, especially considering it was the first competition - unofficial or not - for the team, but if Haru was anything like Rin they both had leftover adrenalin ready to burn out.

 

“We can only do one race,” Rin said as he came back from the showers where he has just sprayed himself with water. “There’s not much light left and I don’t want to turn on the lights inside.”

 

“Fine by me,” said Haru as he grabbed his goggles and closed his locker, walking with Rin to the pool. They stepped on the blocks and crunched in the starting position.

 

“The loser makes dinner,” Rin said.

 

“Hm,” Haru nodded.

 

“Ready?”

 

“Go.”

 

By the time they finished the race, they were both panting and Rin could feel the sense of suppressed energy finally releasing his body.

 

“Was that a tie?” he asked panting.

 

Haru looked at him with his shoulders heaving. “I guess.”

 

Rin snorted and pulled himself up.

 

“You bring the food and I cook?” he suggested as he offered his hand to Haru and pulled him out of the water.

 

“Whatever.”

 

Rin shook his head with a laugh and walked back to the locker room.

 

“Your back is red,” Haru suddenly said as they were walking back home.

 

“Yeah,” Rin said with a sigh as he touched the back of his neck with his hand, before moving it away with a grimace. “Gou and her friends dragged me to the beach yesterday and had me stay shirtless for most of the day,” he sighed.

 

“You should have used sunscreen,” Haru said matter-of-factly.

 

“Oi,” Rin said offended. “I did, but it is hard to reach the back and I didn’t want to ask any of them for help.”

 

“Not even Gou?”

 

Rin sighed again and scratched at his hair. “She could be the worst of them all, to be honest.”

 

“You should tell me next time and I’ll come with you,” Haru suddenly said and Rin looked at him in surprise.

 

“Why-oh-why, Nanase?” Rin sing-songed. “Ogling me in the pool is not enough for you?” he smirked before his eyes widened in surprise because either he was hallucinating or there really was a slight blush painting Haru’s cheeks.

 

“Shut up,” Haru muttered and looked away. “I have to go buy food,” he suddenly said instead.

 

“Whatever,” Rin said with a shrug. “I’ll go ahead and start on the rice.”

 

* * *

 

 

Rin’s eyes shot open at the feeling of something cold and slimy hitting the skin of his back.

 

“Wha-aaaah,” he hissed at the cold feeling was spreading up to his shoulder.

 

“Relax,” came a voice, and in his state of grogginess Rin could still recognize Haru’s voice.

 

It took him a few moments, but eventually he remembered coming home and going to his bedroom to change his shirt. Except that he decided to just lay down for a second – a second that had turned into a proper nap with him half naked.

 

Which still didn’t explain why was Haru currently sitting on Rin’s ass, spreading something cold all over his skin.

 

“What are you doing?” he asked in confusion.

 

“I got aloe vera. It is good for sunburn,” Haru said as he continued to lightly spread the gel all over Rin’s heated skin.

 

“Oh,” Rin’s mouth dropped in surprise. He wasn’t really expecting that. “Thanks,” he murmured slowly. “There was no need…”

 

“The sunburn was getting in the way of your swimming,” Haru interrupted him and continued applying the aloe vera. “You were hissing every time you moved your shoulders too much.”

 

“I was not!”

 

“You were,” Haru said and stroked Rin’s shoulders one last time before moving his hands away. “Done. You should wait for your skin to absorb it.”

 

“Thanks,” Rin muttered again and tried to push himself up but was stopped by Haru still perched on him. “Could you… move away?” he asked awkwardly.

 

He felt Haru lift himself off his backside but not moving otherwise, which left Rin in a situation where he had to awkwardly turn around. He managed to sit on his bed facing Haru, who dropped back down onto Rin’s lap as soon as Rin had settled. Rin ended up having to slouch forward a bit in order to not topple backwards.

 

“Haru?” Rin asked confused noticing Haru’s eyes were frowning at something behind Rin’s head.

 

Haru’s frown deepened a bit before his eyes moved onto Rin’s, his eyebrows relaxing before he spoke.

 

“I like having you back,” he slowly said and Rin’s eyes shot open in surprise. “Living close to you is… nice.”

 

Rin was pretty sure a blush had painted his cheeks, but he couldn’t help himself from smiling. “Yeah, it’s a nice change, right? We were never able to just… hang out that easily,” he admitted. He would be caught dead before admitting that he actually felt it was pretty romantic how after being classmates for barely a few months in elementary school and then being frenemies during their high school, he and Haru had finally come around to be teammates. And neighbors. And…

 

“Well, we talked often via skype…” Rin said, scratching his head nervously. No, he would not go there, he would not say…

 

“It was different,” Haru added and Rin nodded.

 

“Yeah, the webcam makes it hard to look into each others eyes…” Rin bit on his tongue and cursed himself. Did he say too much?

 

He dared throwing a peek at Haru and…

 

Haru was just there, slouched a bit on his own on Rin’s lap and looking at him with soft eyes, and in a second Rin was hit with a strong sense of deja-vu because those eyes… they have looked at him in the same way before. Rin could just feel his heart beating like mad, just like it did those years before under a tree.

 

“Haru…” he whispered and daring maybe a little too much, he lifted a hand and brought it to Haru’s cheek, stroking it slowly with his thumb.

 

Haru leaned closer and so did Rin, and when their lips touched Rin could feel his hair raise up like a gush of wind was lifted around them, but it wasn’t the wind because they weren’t in Iwatobi under a tree. They were in Tokyo, on a bed but it was still them, still Rin and Haru.

 

Rin’s free arm closed around Haru’s waist, pulling them close as their lips remained sealed. Rin was about to think it was just a dream, but Haru’s hands were entwined in his hair, keeping them close almost too forcefully but Rin was not to complain - not when he could feel Haru’s eyelashes flutter against his cheeks, not when his tongue could lick at Haru’s lower lip, not when he could feel the warmth of Haru’s breath against his.

 

Everything was fine.

 

More than fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, okay, this took way too long to write. Sorry!  
> And before I forget: this is not the end of this story! I have ideas plotted for at least two more chapters, the problem is that I don't have planned what follows them. This story was supposed to be a short one shot written for 30DOR but the more I plotted it, the more ideas I got. So for now I decided to finish it here, at a moment where the first four chapters can be wrapped in a nice bow, if I can say so. Once I will figure out how to wrap the rest of things I have plotted in its own arc, I will continue it. Maybe in between, I'll write some oneshot from this universe, because it is too amusing to imagine Rin and Haru as neighbours :'D (or maybe I will finish the other two stories I have left unfinished in my docs).  
> Thanks a lot to everyone who read it, to those who left a kudo, to those who left a comment, I appreciate every single one of them and hopefully I'll see you soon. Also, I hope you did enjoy this chapter :)


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